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Monthly Archives: May 2015

I love going to the beach all year round but sunsets in San Francisco at the beach aren’t those warm summer nights you might hope for. I still like to walk bare foot in the sand but I make sure to bundle up with a really good wind resistant jacket and a hat to keep my hair from whipping all over the place.

Of course I wear shoes to the beach but take them off the minute my feet can hit the sand.

My go to outerwear is my Helly Hansen jacket and Big Truck hat. Some of the most beautiful sunsets are the cold ones. The colors tend to splay a lot more vibrantly.

After being at work all day, I love to go outside and be silly. There’s something about being at the beach that makes me want to play like a kid again.

Hoping to catch a few more good ones this weekend while away in Paso Robles!

A few weekends ago, my dad got our family tickets to go see the PAWS wildlife sanctuary in San Andreas, CA. I have been so excited to go check it out because I think it’s amazing what they are doing for large/exotic animals. Above you will see Ed Stewart who is one of the co-founders carrying the legacy of the sanctuary on for Pat Derby, his long time partner who unfortunately passed away a few years ago. They started this sanctuary to help animals who have been held captive for entertainment and if you check out their site, you can find out all about it. Some of the videos of the animals being released into their large areas of land at PAWS brought tears to my eyes because the animals were so used to being stuck in small cages for most of their lives.

I was so moved by our visit to PAWS, that I wanted to share ways that you can all help too if you want to do something for these beautiful animals but don’t know how to start.

2) You can adopt one of these animals here and no that doesn’t mean you will be taking them home with you 🙂

3) You can plan a visit on one of their few open houses a year like we did (see below). The money for the ticket goes towards the upkeep of the animals.

To set expectations, this is not a zoo. It’s a place where the creators wanted the animals to live out the rest of their lives in a humane way. We were fortunate enough to see a lot of the animals but they won’t coax them out just for visitors.

They have very nice, air conditioned charter buses to get you around in-between the different stops. There are many acres of land for these animals so it’s not possible to walk.

Driving through the property was amazing, so many elephants roaming free.

This cutie was putting on a show!

This Asian bull elephant came right up to the gates as well.

The bull elephants have to have much stronger fence lines as they can be a bit more aggressive if they need to be. Keep in mind, they also came from circus’s and other places where they were mistreated.

Turkeys roaming the open roads between sanctuaries.

There were three female elephants we saw that were sharing a large enclosure. They don’t need as strong of fencing.

This is Prince rolling in the dirt. He’s an African bull elephant that hates people because of his life in the circus. I don’t blame him. It was so fun to watch him roam around.

I believe this pretty girl was Maggie. They were so sweet with Ed. He really knows these animals. One of the most interesting facts he told us was how they receive these elephants when they are traveling to the Arc 2000 (aka PAWS sanctuary). The air force helps transport these animals on C17’s in crates, takes a few cranes as well, and Ed explained how nervous he gets when flying with the animals. If anything is to go wrong during flight, the airplane would have to drop the crate to save the flight from a crash. The nerves you must experience while traveling with the elephants must be through the roof. Eventually, they land and with the help of some more cranes and semi-trucks, they are able to successfully transport the animals to Arc 2000.

One of the elephants had a very cute stance for such a large animal.

I was so mesmerized by these beautiful elephants and how relaxed they seemed. It was really touching to know they will now live their life where they won’t be kept inhumanely.

Although they deserve to live full lives in the wild, it’d be impossible to try to put them back in the wild now. They don’t have the necessary survival skills. Seeing Arc 2000 though made me happy to know that someone cares enough for these animals to devote their lives to trying to give them a better life. If you feel the same way and want to help, check out the links about 🙂

{{ Cheerleader }}
It’s no secret that I’m a huge Wombats fan. It all started way back when they first released their first songs and I was living in London. I would put their tunes on with my head phones and wander in new directions. I feel like I grew with them along the way and always feel grateful for their contribution to my adventuring self. Not to mention, their sound is pure perfection. Every time they come to SF, I make sure to snag some tickets to their show before they sell out because the show never disappoints. This time around they sold out the iconic Fillmore venue for the first time and brought two other kick ass bands with them, Cheerleader and Life in Film. I have to be honest, I’d never heard of the openers but love hearing new music. Both bands were great and made a great combo of music for the night.

{{ Cheerleader }}

{{ Cheerleader – my favorite song of theirs is The Sunshine of Your Youth but all songs were easy to listen to. }}

{{ Life in Film }}

Next up was Life in Film, a British band with a beautiful and fun upbeat sound. They sound a little bit like Young the Giant with the deeper voice and bouncing beats. I really like the song “Alleyway” but found their entire set to be enjoyable.

{{ Life in Film }}

{{ Life in Film }}

Both openers were great bands that I now have on my playlists and would love to see again.

Taking photos of bands at indoor venues is actually extremely hard. The light is dark and the bands usually move around a lot making it hard to capture the right moments.

{{ The Wombats }}

Then came the Wombats. Le sigh. They have just released their new album Glitterbug and this is the first tour where they are playing the majority of their set with these new tunes. They did a sample show a while back where they tested a few songs at the Rickshaw before the songs were released and it just made me so excited for this tour. Glitterbug is pure gold. They came out and opened with Your Body is a Weapon, the first single off of Glitterbug. Then followed with an older tune, Jump Into the Fog, probably because they know how to please us San Franciscans :).

They wove in and out of the new and old albums.

Tord brings so much energy, it’s amazing he can provide some vocals as well as play bass.

Murph rips the guitar and writes some really interesting lyrics.

Glitterbug seems to be about a relationship that has gone sour but I can’t help but wonder if the album is really even about a relationship or if it’s a witty play on words.

In the past, the Wombats have been compared to the sound of the Cure but this new album really shows their unique sound that is hard to fit into one specific genre. It’s catchy, smart, witty, and less aggressive but still edgy.

They have a way of pulling the crowd in without even trying.

They closed out the night with songs including Give Me a Try and Let’s Dance to the Joy Division. The whole house was bumping and bouncing and since they sold out the Fillmore we were sent home with custom Wombats posters from the Fillmore. It’s a tour that’s just getting started and I highly recommend it. I may be biased but it’s definitely worth the ticket so go check ’em out!

So there’s this thing called brunch and people in San Francisco love it. My favorite spot is Nopa because they have a short menu with unique items. You can’t go wrong with any of their bites or cocktails. Here’s some tips on how to make sure you get in and what to not miss!

(Get there about 30 minutes before the doors open, there will be a long line but it will be much shorter than if you didn’t get there early)

(Don’t miss the morning drinks- they are the only ones I will drink before 5PM. The Ramos Fizz is my favorite)

(Balance out your cocktails with Blue Bottle french press, you can split a half or full press)

(The mural is an homage to the city painted by the oh-so-talented Brian Barneclo.)

(This weekend’s menu)

(I had the artichoke quiche)

(Nick’s mom grabbed the soft eggs)

Nopa is a spot you don’t want to miss! It’s worth the wait in line and I don’t say that about many places!

I love a good road trip. I love seeing roads I’ve never seen before and observing different landscapes as you pass through. This past weekend, we headed up to Valley Springs for a family get together and to head to a fund raiser involving large rescue entertainment animals (post coming soon!). While I was packing, I realized I’ve gotten quite good at throwing a weekend bag together for a road trip so I wanted to share my list of essentials in case you need one in a pinch.

Packing List:

I purchased a blanket while I was in Cabo that I bring everywhere with me. It’s the best versatile blanket. I’ve used it to sit on, wrap around me at a bonfire, and even to cover things up in my car if I need to run into a store.

Re-fillable water bottle. Whenever I stop, I re-fill from the water spout on the fountain soda machine.

Universal USB phone charger for the car. I found one of these at Walgreen’s and it’s been a lifesaver for when my phone battery runs low from using directions on my phone on a long road trip. Which also brings the good point, don’t forget your charger(s)!

Inflatable travel pillow if you have room. It saves your neck if you are napping while not driving.

I’m a fan of layers as well. I prefer having a layer for any type of weather and mix and matching throughout my trip.

Other forget-me-nots: travel hairbrush, a few hair ties, mini dry shampoo bottle, some thick socks, a good pair of leggings, a hat, sunscreen, sunglasses, good playlist (my latest favorite album is Glitterbug by the Wombats), camera, and some snacks.

Some of the best parts of a road trip are just enjoying the journey so don’t forget to pull over every now and then and enjoy your favorite new and/or old places 🙂

Living in Northern California means that we are just an hour away from all kinds of amazing wineries. Napa, Sonoma, Healdsburg, they all have beautiful places to spend the day. I recently visited Medlock Ames in Healdsburg with a group of friends. The wine was great but the modern decor really caught my eye!

(They put together a beautiful table with our reservation)

(Showcasing their wine bottles was a nice tough. The rose really popped)

(This light fixture hung above the small booth that they had inside)

(Lastly, I love the edison bulbs. I know they are a bit overused now but the piping made it feel very unique)

I thought this winery was warm and had a laid back style. This is a gem that is waiting to be discovered.

It’s been one day since we heard the terrible news that The Mindy Project had been cancelled. This means that our adorable girl next door, Mindy Lahiri, will no longer be a Tuesday night obsession. But Mindy Kaling is so much more than a TV actress, she is the every woman. She is smart, funny, confident, and has all of the qualities I look for in my real life friends.

(A real friend covers your a** like a true bad B)

First off, I’d like to say to the Fox network:

(How DARE you. Do you know how hard the last 24 hours have been on me? My sweet Kelly Kapoor finally got the spotlight she so deserved, and then you pull this? Oh, hell no. Enough of you, back to Mindy.)

(Another reason she is awesome? She says the things that we are all thinking. Mindy lacks a filter and is basically fearless, like a bobcat.)

(Hey Mindy, do you remember when you, me, and Zooey were at that fancy dinner and I wore that pseudo crop top dress thing? You don’t? Yeah, that’s cuz it never happened! But should it? Maybe? Yes.)

I could go on and on about how fun and great Mindy is and how I want her to officiate my wedding, blah blah blah. But I think I’ll leave you with a great quote from you-know-who: “Write your own part. It is the only way I’ve gotten anywhere. It is much harder work, but sometimes you have to take destiny into your own hands.” Doesn’t that make you want to go out and launch a start-up or something?

(Well, yeah, you wrote it)

I have no doubt that we will be seeing her on our television screens soon enough *cough* Hulu *cough*. But until then, it’s The Mindy Project and Office reruns and pre-ordering Why Not Me?

The past few weeks have been full of on the go fun and I am always looking for new fun ideas or tasty places to try . I thought I would share some of mine from the past few weeks. Here are some of my picks of the week!

We love it when we can feature a guy on our blog and it’s only happened a handful of times in the past. This weekend, I went wine tasting with a group of friends who are all super fashionable! Brandon’s outfit caught my eye as it was curated in such a way that each piece really popped. I love it when people can put together a casual outfit with a lot of character.